Advance Assurance

When to Apply for Advance Assurance

Advance Assurance can be applied for before or after your R&D activities, but the application must be made before submitting your first R&D tax relief claim to HMRC.

Eligibility Criteria for Advance Assurance

To be eligible for Advance Assurance for R&D tax credits, your company must:

✅ Be an SME

✅ Be planning to carry out R&D or have already done so

✅ Have made no previous claims for R&D tax relief

✅ Have annual turnover of £2 million or less

✅ Employ fewer than 50 staff

✅ Not be part of a group, and no linked companies have claimed R&D relief before

✅ Not be a serious defaulter

✅ Not have used any schemes under the Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes (DOTAS) regime

Claim Notification Requirements

You must notify HMRC of your intention to claim R&D tax relief by completing a claim notification form, even if you've applied for Advance Assurance but haven't yet submitted it. If you're claiming for R&D tax relief or R&D expenditure credit for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2023, you must complete a claim notification form if:

• You’re claiming for the first time.
  
  
• Your last claim was submitted more than 3 years before the end of the current claim notification period.

While it’s possible to apply for Advance Assurance yourself, we recommend speaking with our experts to understand how we can simplify the process, ensure compliance, and add value to your claim..

Curious about how your company can benefit from the full range of tax incentives? Explore our Innovation Tax Reliefs services for a complete overview.

📞 Call us on 0208 037 1030 or fill in the enquiry form on the bottom of this page to get started.